Hi Terry: No, the knob should spin freely unless it is hard against the felt. I and a lot of other K2 builders a decade ago ran into this issue. What has most likely happened is that one of the threads around the inside opening of the felt washer has gotten caught in the shaft and wound itself into the bearing, causing it to bind.
On mine, after removing the knob and washer, I was able to see the thread sticking out around the C retainer on the encoder shaft. I grabbed it with tweezers and, by turning the encoder shaft the correct direction, it slowly unwound and came back out. After that the shaft turned very freely. You have a few choices: I used a little CA (super glue) cement around the inner hole opening in the felt washer and, after it hardened, trimmed off any loose threads remaining. Others had luck just opening up the hole in the felt washer. And a few replaced the felt washer with one they made out of a scrap bit of leather from an old belt, etc. The K2 is a superb CW rig and does a decent job on SSB. 73, Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Terry Brown Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2016 7:37 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] K2 VFO question Hello Group, I got my first exposure to Elecraft gear when I bought a used K2 about a year ago and began my re-entry into CW operating, which I love. I used to be exclusively SSB, then got too busy for Ham Radio for about 6 years, then got the K2. I now pretty much run CW all the time. When I got the K2, I had nothing to compare it to in the Elecraft line of rigs. My friend had a KX3, KXPA100, and the PX3. I made the mistake of going to his QTH and looking at that great gear. Long story short, I started acquiring those components in January of this year and now the combo is my main station at home, and in the field. When I bought the KX3, I have used it exclusively until tonight when I dusted off the K2 for a few contacts. I immediately noticed how hard it was to turn the K2 VFO compared to the KX3. I installed the KX3 VFO upgrade, so that made the KX3 very smooth and adjustable. I tried to adjust the K2 by moving the knob totally away from the felt, but it still is very stiff. It's difficult to turn it using the finger indent. Is that normal? I would appreciate any advice in getting the K2 VFO knob to turn easier. My Ser. No. on the K2 is 2584. Thanks and 73's, Terry, N7TB ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to r...@cobi.biz ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
